Typographical slug casting machine



F. c. VAN SCHAICK ,195, 38

TYPOGRAPHICAL SLUG CASTING MACHINE March 26, 1940.

Filed March 30, 1939 line) Patented Mar. 26,1940

am STATES! PATE T. oFFicE TYPOGRAPHICAL SLUG CASTING Frank C.Van Scha'ick, San Francisco, Calif., assigner to Mergenthalcr Linotype Company, a

corporation of New York Application March 30', 1939, Serial No. 264,897 8 Claims. (01. nae-51y This invention relates to typographical slug castingmachines'such as linotype machines of the general organization represented in.U.. S.

Letters-Patent to O; Mergenthaler, No. 436,532,

wherein circulating matrices are assembled in lineftogether withexpansible spacebands, the composed line lifted up between a pair of fingers ofa delivery slide and then transferred thereby horizontally into a so-cal1edfirst elevator. which thereupon descends to present the composed line in casting position between a pair of vise jaws. In the normal operation of the machine, the line delivery slideis stoppedjwithin the first elevator in a'definite predetermined position so that when the composed line lowered by said elevator between the vise jaws, the matrix at the extreme rightwill be flush or nearly so with the clamping face of the right hand jaw. A small space, however, usually occurs between the matrix at the opposite end of the line and the left hand jaw on account'of the slight variations'in length of the lines asordinarily composed, but this or any-other space in theline is filled out by the expansion of the spacebands during justification. I

In practice, the justification of the composed lines is usually carried out in two stages, i. e., before and after the matrices are alined against the mold, these justifying operations being effected by a vertically movable driving bar arranged to engage the lower ,ends of the pendant members of the spacebands. In the first stage of justification, the driving bar operates in an inclined position with reference to the matrix line (inclined downwardly from right to left), while in the sec- I 0nd stage of justification, the driving bar operates in a horizontal position (parallel with the matrix justification of the line, thedriving bar is caused to engage the spacebands successively from right to left as it'forces the pendantmembers thereof upwardly through the linefwhereas in effecting the final justification of the line, the driving her is caused to engage the spacebands successively from left to right, since at that time the spacebands stand as the bar left them after the preceding operation. As heretofore constructed, the spaceband driving. barv has been formed with a plane upper surface for engaging the lower. ends of the pendant members of the spacebands, and while this construction has always been accepted'as satisfactory, it has now been found to be one of the primarycausesof the damage to orb-reakage of the spacebandswhich has persisted for years not- Consequently, in effecting the preliminary withstanding the many efforts made to overcome the defect. 1

According to the presentinvention, specifically,

the spaceband driving her is formed in its upper surface with a longitudinal groove to fit the lower ends of the pendant members of the spacebands. In the actual use of such a grooved driving bar, the damageor breakage of spacebands is very materially reduced, so much so indeed that the results are rather surprising. It is believed that this result is due to the fact that, if at the time of justification, any of the spacebands in the composed line stand tilted or canted edgewise, the

side Walls of thegroove, by cooperating with the I opposite edges of the pendant members of the spacebands, will automatically shift the latter into their proper upright or erect position, thus squaring 01f the lower ends of the pendant memhere with reference to the bottom wall of. the groove and thereby insuring proper line contact between the spacebands and the engaging surface of the driving bar at the start of the justifying action, i. e., during the fir'ststage of justification when the driving bar occupies an in clined position. I h

The explanation may be as follows: During the preliminary or firststage justification, the

components of the composed line (the spaceerect position (the spacebands in particular), the resistance offered to the expansion of the spacebands should not be so excessive as to cause undue bending or breakage of the pendant mem bers'of the spacebands as they'slide' along the plane engaging surface of the driving bar. In other words, under such conditions, the plane upper surface of the driving her will make proper line contact with the lower ends of the pendant members of the spacebands and will therefore force the pendant members up through the line directly along the longitudinal axial linesof the spacebands. If,'on the other hand, any of the spaceband's should be canted or tilted edgewise in the line (as may occur because of the clearance required between theshorter members of the spacebands and the side walls of the elevator),

the lower ends of the pendant members of the spacebands will stand at an angle to the plane upper surface of the driving bar and the upward thrust of the latter, instead of being along the longitudinal axial lines of the spacebands, will be along lines running diagonally across the planes of the spacebands, with the result that such upward thrust of the driving bar will have the effect of rocking the spacebands edgewise and thus cause the shorter members thereof to be pinched or wedged between the side walls of the elevator and thus prevented from sliding freely to the left as they should. If the shorter members of the spacebands are thus locked in place and cannot move in response to the thrust of the driving bar, the lower or pendant members of the spacebands are bound to bend or-become broken due to the fact that the pendant members of the spacebands will be moved to the left, because of the cam effect of the inclined driving bar, even though the shorter members are held or wedged against movement.

It will thus be seen that, by the use of a grooved spaceband driving bar," the above explained difiiculties are not so apt to occur, since the bar at the very start of its first justifying stroke acts automatically to restore or bring to upright or erect position any spacebands which do not at the time occupy that position. It will also be seen that, in the use of such a grooved bar, the groove, after straightening up the spacebands at .the start of the justifying stroke, will also serve to maintain them in their proper upright or erect position throughout the justifying action, thus preventing them from becoming canted or tilted as they slide along the bar during the expansion of the line.

While a grooved spaceband driving bar, such as described, has been found to give excellent results, the same effect could be obtained in other ways, as for example, by providing the bar with a beveled rib which would enter the customary slots formed in the lower ends of the spacebands and, by straightening up the spacebands, bring the lower ends of the pendant members thereof into proper line contact with the engaging surface of the bar.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. l is a front elevation, with certain parts broken away, of a portion of the casting mechanism of a linotype machine embodying the present improvements, and showing the composed line in casting position and ready for justification preparatory to casting;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1, except that the first elevator is shown in vertical section to reveal how the matrices and spacebands are supported therein;

Fig. 3 is a detail view, in the nature of 2. diagram, showing the grooved spaceband driving bar cooperating with the lower end of the pendant member of a tilted spaceband to straighten up the latter in the composed line before the bar acts to force the pendant member up through the line;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the proper cooperative relation between the grooved spaceband driving bar and the lower end of the pendant member of a spaceband, it being observed that the spaceband in such relation occupies a perfectly upright or erect position in the composed lineand presents the lower end of the pendant member inline contact with the bottom of the groove and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the grooved spaceband driving bar detached.

As is well known in machines of this character, the matrices X and expansible spacebands Y are composed in line in an assembler and the composed line then transferred to a so-called first elevator A, which thereupon descends to present the composed line between a pair of line clamping jaws B and C and in front of a slotted mold D, Figs. 1 and 2 showing the parts -in that position just prior to the lockup of the mold and composed line. J ustification of the line then takes place, i. e., the long or pendant wedgeshaped portions Y of the spacebands are. forced upwardly through the line, causing it to fill out the space (see the dotted lines in Fig. 1) between the line clamping jaws, and this is effected by the upward movement of the driving bar E car" ried at the top of two spaced vertical rods E and E As before explained, justification takes place in two stages, and the matrices are properly alined with the mold between stages, in well known manner. During the first stage of justification, the driving bar E moves up at an angle, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, so that the spacebands at, the right of the line are expanded in greater degree than those at the left.

During the second stage, the driving bar is moved up in a horizontal position, the spacebands at the left being acted upon first (since these now extend below those at the right), but all of the spacebands at the completion of justification have the same degree of expansion. In order to accomplish this variable movement of thespaceband driving bar, the vertical rods E and E are operated independently through cam con-' trolled spring operated levers in the customary Way.

In accordance with the present invention, the spaceband driving baris formed with a shallow groove F extending throughout the length thereof and made to fit snugly thelower chamfered ends of the pendant members of the spacebands, as shown in Fig. 4. Thus, the side walls of the groove F are beveled or flared outwardly to cooperate with the rounded corners of the spacebands, whilethe bottom wall of the groove is made flat and of a width to correspond to the width of the straight or squared-off ends of the spacebands. 1

As before explained, in the use of such a grooved spaceband driving bar, the beveled or flared side walls of the groove will act, by cooperating with the opposite chamfered edges of the pendant members of the spacebands, to straighten up any spacebands which may be canted or tilted edgewise in the composed line at the time the bar starts its upward driving stroke in the first justification stage (see Fig. 3) and cause the straight or squared-01f lower ends of the pendant members of such canted or tilted spacebands to make reduced as compared with the use of a plane surface bar such ashas heretofore been used.

In the accompanying drawing, the-invention has been .shown merely by way of example and will be comprised within its spirit.

understood, therefore, that the invention is not I limited to any specific form or embodiment except in preferred form, but obviously many variations and modifications may be made therein which It is to be insofar as such limitations are specified in the appended claims. 1 v

Having thus described my claim is:

1. In or for a typographical slug casting machine wherein the matrix lines, from which the slugs are cast, are justified by the expansion of spacebands comprising pendant wedge-shaped members adapted to be forced upwardly through the line, justifying mechanism operable to efiect' such'expansion of the spacebands-and including.

a driving bar arranged to engagethe lower ends of the pendant memberasaid driving bar being.

formed in its upper surface with a longitudinal groove having convergent side walls to fit the lower ends of the pendant members of the spaceends of the pendant members, said driving bar, being formed in its upper surface with a longi'-' tudinal groove whose side walls are convergent to cooperate with the opposite rounded corners of the pendant members of the spacebands and bring the lower ends thereof into proper line contact with the bottom wall of the groove.

3. In or for a typographical slug casting machine wherein the matrix lines, from which the slugs are cast, are justified by the expansion of spacebands comprising pendant wedge-shaped members adapted to be forced upwardly through the line, justifying mechanism operable to effect such expansion of the spacebands and including a driving bar arranged to engagethe lower ends of the pendant members, said driving bar being formed with cam surfaces to cooperate with the opposite edges of the pendant members'jof the spacebands andbring the lower ends thereof into proper line contact with the engaging surface of the bar.

4. In or for a typographical slug casting mainvention, what I chine wherein the matrix lines, from which the I slugs are cast, are justified by the expansion of spacebands comprising pendant wedge-shaped members adapted to be forced upwardly through the line,'justifying mechanism operable to effect such expansion of the spacebands and including a driving bar arranged to engage the lower ends of the pendant members, said driving bar having camming means to square off the lower ends of the pendant members of the spacebands at the. start of itsdriving stroke to insure proper line contact between said ends and the engaging surface of the bar.

5. In or for a typographical slug casting ma- .chine wherein the matrix lines, from which the slugs are cast, are justified by the expansion of spacebands comprising pendant wedge-shaped members adapted to be forced upwardly through the line, justifying mechanism operable to effect such expansion of the spacebands and including a driving bar arranged to engage the lower ends I of the pendant members, said driving bar having camming means to cooperate with the pendant members of the spacebands at the start of its driving stroke to insure proper line contact between the lower ends of said members and the engaging surface of the bar.

6. In or for a typographical slug casting machine wherein the matrix lines, from which the slugs are cast, are justified by the expansion of space bands comprising pendant wedge-shaped members adapted to be forced upwardly through the'line, justifying mechanism operable toeffect such expansion of the spacebands and including a driving bar arranged to engage the lower ends of the pendant members, said driving bar having camming means to cooperate with the pendant members of the spacebands at the start of its driving stroke to straighten up any spacebands canted or tilted edgewise in the line.

I '7. A justifying mechanism as specified in claim 1 and wherein the driving bar is operable in two stages, in the first of which it occupies a tilted or, non-horizontalposition and inthe second of which it occupies a horizontal position.

8. As an article of manufacture, a spaceband.

driving bar for typographical slug casting machines formed in 'its'upper surface with a longitudinal groove having a fiat bottom wall and outwardly diverging; side walls, substantially as shown and described. l

FRANK c. VAN SCI-IAICK. 

